Bathing suit



Jan. 15, 1924.

E. G. OSTERMA N BATHING SUIT Filed Dec. 1921 I p w York and State of' New vYork-have in: vented a certain new and: useful Bathing Suit, of which the'following is aspecifica- Patented Jan. 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES PAT-Na EDWARDG. os'TEaMAN; or YORK} N1 Y., assienoit totem is'rjajaa xfiyirrrriie MILLS ea, or BROOKLYN, New YORK, A commas-Tron oamw Yon'xl amma sum:

se tic-man mew-teatime 9, 1921'. Serial naitzims.

To alZ whom z't may concern."

Be it known that I, EDWARD Gr: Osman- MAN, a citizen ofthe United States, a resi= dent of New York, in'the county oflNew tion.

The invention has for: an object to pro vide a bathing suit which willbe adjustable in size over a substantial range of dimen-.

sions of the wearer to" the end that,.when worn by persons of dilferent'heiglits and weights the same suit will automatically adjust itself to fit snugly and comfortably on persons of' difier'ent builds, without wrinkles in or undue distortions of the material of which the suit is made.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious and in part specifically pointed out in the description hereinafter contained, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof; such embodiment, however, is to be considered merely as illustrative of its principle. In the drawings:

The single figure is a front view of a bathing suit made in accordance with the invention, certain parts being cut away for the sake of clearness.

In the drawing I have illustrated a bathing suit of the one-piece type, comprising a body portion adapted to fit over the torso of the wearer and made up of a jersey 1 and trunks 2, the suit being provided with any desired means such as one or more detachable shoulder straps 3 provided with buttonholes 4 engaging buttons 5 on the jersey, to permit the suit to be readily slipped on or off by the wearer.

As above stated, oneof the primary objects of the invention is to provide a suit which can be worn by stout or lean persons, as well as persons of different heights, and which will still fit snugly and without undue distortion or strain under the above varying conditions of use. It is difficult to obtain a material which will possess sulficient elasticity in all directions, to enable a bathing suit of ordinary structure to adapt itself without wrinkles or undue distortion, since if the suit is to be worn by a person of large waist line, for example, the suit cally; Material of this'nature' possesses substantial degreejof elasticity" in h it zontaldire'ction, ior" transversely of the 'r ibs;- with the result that the suit will expand and contract adequately over a substantial range of sizes, as far as horizontal changes in dimensions of the wearer are concerned, to fit properly persons of different girths, and without an undue wrinkled appearance or distortion.

However, material of the above nature does not possess to the same degree, the quality of elasticity in the direction of the ribs, or vertically in the present embodiment, and in accordance with the present invention the suit is provided with elastic means for exerting vertical tension upon its body portion in such manner that as the height or girth of. a wearer varies, the combined action of the aforesaid elastic means with the quality of transverse or horizontal resilience possessed by the material of which the body portion as a whole is constructed, will enable the suit to adjust itself adequately in all directions to fit snugly and without undue distortion.

Preferably both the front and rear of the suit are provided with elastic means of the character above described, such means in the present instance taking the form of inserts 6 and 7 respectively in the front and rear of the body portion of the suit adjacent its waist line, such inserts being made of a material possessing suflicient elasticity in a vertical direction to enable the suit, for example, to expand particularly at the front as would be necessary when worn by a person of large waist line, or to contract at both the front and back as would be necessary when worn by a slender person. It will be noted that the inserts 6 and 7 occupy only a fraction of the area of the suit adj acent its waist line whereby an area of vertically ribbed material is also included in this portion of the garment; this area of vertically ribbed material in combination with the inserts thus enables the suit to expand and contract both vertically and horizontally, at the level of the inserts. In the present instance these inserts are made of the same material as the remainder of the suit, but with the ribs running horizontally, thus making the suit of uniform wearing qualities throughout.

Although it is not vital that the suit be constructed in such manner, it may be advantageously constructed to possess the above mentioned qualities as Well as conform to the regulations in certain districts, by employing a jersey 1 which extends downwardly over the crotch and disposing the inserts 6 and 7 in-the upper part of the trunks 2 at the front and rear thereof, the trunks being attached to the inside of the jersey 1 adjacent the waist line, as by stitching 8 extending all the way around the suit, whereby the lower part of the. jersey 1 forms an exterior depending flap 9 which overlies the inserts 6 and 7 and at least the upper portion of the trunks 2.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been disclosed it will be obvious that many changes maybe made therein Without departing from the principles of the invention as defined in the following claims:

I claim:

1. A bathing suithaving a body portion made up of a jersey, trunks joined thereto at both sides of the suit but with their upper middle front and rear portions cut away, said jersey andtrunks being of horizontally elastic material, front and rear in serts of vertically elastic material disposed in said cut away portions of the trunks, and,

a flap extending j down over the trunks,

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein said body and trunks are made of vertically ribbedmaterial, and the inserts of horizontally ribbed material.

In testimony that Iclaim the foregoing,

I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of November, 1921. p

EDWARD. e. OSTERMAN. 

